This is such a silly attempt at justifying the decision not to release the game on PC and its patently false at this point.
The cries of piracy, hacking, and mods are ridiculously flimsy and carry no weight anymore, especially when FIFA (arguably the biggest selling sports franchise in the entire world) is released year-in/year-out on PC, complete with FUT with all the bells and whistles of the console versions + it took almost an entire year for the latest games to be pirated in the first place due to the newest copy protection (Denuvo) that significantly delays a pirated version from appearing.
The reason why NHL is not on PC anymore is because its a niche sport. The player base is significantly smaller. Its the same with games like the PGA series and even Rugby games. Piracy plays a part, but its growing more insignificant over time due to the progression made in stopping piracy.